College football Week 10: 15 players to watch

Achane is coming off two great games -- 124 yards and two touchdowns against Missouri and 154 yards and a TD last week against South Carolina. Those were his first 100-yard games since the Aggies' opener against Kent and shows that he and Isaiah Spiller can coexist in the same backfield. A&M has risen from the dead (well, from being unranked) to sitting 14th in the season's first College Football Playoff rankings. Look for both backs to get plenty of touches in an important SEC game with Auburn. The winner of this game has an outside shot at getting to the SEC championship game and a long shot at a playoff berth. 

Yes, I'm going to talk about a punter as one of the 15 players to watch this week. This isn't just any punter -- this may be the greatest punting season in college football history. Araiza is averaging 52.2 yards per punt, which currently would be the highest average ever (the record is 51.0, set by Texas A&M's Braden Mann in 2018) and would top Sammy Baugh's NFL record (51.4). He has 29 punts of over 50 yards which is three short of the record. Actually, calling him a punter does Araiza a disservice. He's one of four FBS kickers who are their teams' primary punter, field goal kicker, and kickoff specialist. He's kicked three field goals of 50+ yards (second-best in the nation) and he's the first player to ever kick a 50-yard field goal and an 80-yard punt in the same game in consecutive weeks. His ability to flip field position by the power of his foot has been crucial to the Aztecs' success this season. Check out this punt against Air Force, for example. San Diego State travels to Hawaii on Saturday night. 

Few people think Missouri has any shot to upset No. 1 Georgia on Saturday but it will be interesting to see the SEC's top rusher against that vaunted Bulldogs defense. Badie has put up two monstrous games over the last three outings -- 209 yards against North Texas on October 9th and 254 yards last week against Vanderbilt. Again, the Dawgs are just a bit tougher than either the Mean Green or Commodores, but he's rushed for a touchdown in all but one game this season (a Week 2 loss to Kentucky) and has shown an ability to break out for huge games. Can he do damage against Georgia? We'll see on Saturday. 

Georgia enters the first College Football Playoff rankings as the top team in the land. We know that the Dawgs can rely on their suffocating defense; what we don't know is if they can rely on their quarterback. Stetson Bennett has filled in admirably for JT Daniels and Georgia's offense has looked better over the last several weeks. Daniels was active for last week's game against Florida, but Bennett remained the starter. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds over the next month or so as Georgia rolls into what is likely to be a showdown with Alabama in the SEC championship game. Daniels is the more dynamic passer, but Bennett seems to be pulling the right strings. Georgia hosts Missouri on Saturday. 

The Ducks' defense gets most of the press, but quarterback Anthony Brown had himself a game against Colorado last week. Brown completed 25 of 31 passes for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Buffaloes -- a cleaner effort than his 296 yards passing the previous week against UCLA where he threw zero touchdowns and two picks. The win over Colorado did end his streak of three games with a rushing touchdown. Oregon is currently a placeholder for one of the four coveted playoff spots and Brown is warming up at exactly the right time. The Ducks travel north to face Washington in Seattle for a nationally televised prime-time affair. 

Remember when Arkansas was one of the darlings of the college football season? Losses to Georgia, Ole Miss, and Auburn knocked the Razorbacks back to reality and hid one of the receiving gems out there. Burks has been getting his (okay, he didn't against Georgia) during the Hogs' losing streak. He's caught 42 passes for 717 yards and 7 TDs this season and is known to break off a huge play in the blink of an eye. Arkansas hosts Mississippi State on Saturday. 

With Army and Air Force set to face off in the inaugural Lockheed Martin Commanders’ Classic, it is a great time to shine a light on Army's Andre Carter II. The junior linebacker from Missouri City, Texas is in the top five nationally in sacks (8.5). Standing 6'7 and 250 lbs, Carter is an intimidating presence for the Black Knights. A tight end in high school, Carter has transitioned to linebacker seamlessly and now has opposing offenses focused on trying to block him and keeping him from disrupting their game plan. He'll have a different task on Saturday trying to bottle up Air Force's top-ranked rushing attack. 

Dell had the best game of his young career last week against SMU. The sophomore receiver ... nicknamed "Tank" ... caught nine passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns in the win over the Mustangs. Those 165 yards were just three less than what he gained in the previous three games combined, but is the second game this year that showed Dell's ability to put up big numbers. The Cougars have won seven straight after a loss to Texas Tech in the season opener and have placed Houston in prime position to play for the AAC championship. Four very winnable games (starting with South Florida this week) lead to a possible matchup with Cincinnati. 

The quarterback position is just in name only at Navy. Lavatai is the Midshipmen's signal-caller (he's thrown 39 passes all season) and leads the team in rushing attempts and rushing touchdowns. He's not a guy with breakaway speed, but a bruiser who can break tackles and churn out those tough yards to keep drives alive. His running style led to various injuries in high school and forced him to miss a couple of games this season, his first as Navy's starter. And it isn't that he can't throw -- he actually completed 11 of his 15 passes for 116 yards in a narrow 27-20 loss to Cincinnati a few weeks ago -- but just the nature of the offense. He followed up his performance against Cincinnati by completing none of his three pass attempts in a win over Tulsa. Navy takes on rival Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday. 

About a month ago, there weren't many players who were feeling the heat like Bo Nix (I do see you though, Mr. Rattler) but he's dusted himself off and has been playing his best football of late. In the Tigers' upset win over Ole Miss, Nix threw for 276 yards, a TD, and no picks (he had thrown an interception in each of his last two games). Nix also rushed for two touchdowns against the Rebels. His completion percentage has soared over the last two games -- both wins over ranked opponents -- which bodes well as Auburn travels to Texas A&M to face the Aggies in this week's lone matchup between ranked teams. 

Saturday is a huge day for the Bearcats. ESPN's College Gameday will be making its Queen City debut to feature a team that is trying to become the first non-power school to reach the College Football Playoff. Ridder is the leader of this team and must have a big game against a Tulsa team who is coming off a heartbreaking loss to Navy. Cincinnati has had two straight ho-hum showings that saw them struggle to put away lesser competition (Navy and last place Tulane) which could hurt a team that lacks any signature games remaining on the schedule. Look for Ridder ... and the angry Bearcats ... to have a big day, similar to his statement win at Notre Dame (297 passing yards, 3 total TDs), and get focused for a strong playoff push. 

The Falcons have been a pleasant surprise in the Mountain West and are led by running back Brad Roberts. Roberts has rushed for an MW-best 845 yards this season and trails only his quarterback, Haaziq Daniels, in rushing touchdowns. Roberts struggled in his last game against San Diego State (27 yards) as the Aztecs grounded Air Force's top-ranked rushing offense. That loss ended a string of three straight games of at least 138 yards rushing by Roberts, who has eclipsed the century mark five times this season. It also ended his four-game streak of having at least one rushing touchdown (he has eight on the year). Air Force plays Army in the inaugural Lockheed Martin Commanders' Classic in Arlington on Saturday. 

When Bailey Zappe is your quarterback, expect some receivers with big-time yardage totals. Jerreth Sterns has benefited from Zappe's arm, catching 93 passes for 1,166 yards and 11 touchdowns -- all tops in the nation. He caught 10 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown in a win over Charlotte last week -- his second-worst game of the season. He has six games of over 100 yards receiving, four games of over 170 yards receiving, and one 221 yard game. He is a Rondale Moore-like receiver who transferred from Houston Baptist in 2020. A former two-star prospect is now getting love from NFL scouts and becoming one of the most exciting players in the country. 

Do you believe in Michigan State now? Kenneth Walker III's performance against Michigan not only showed college football that the Spartans are for real but placed him right in the thick of the Heisman Trophy race. Walker III rushed for 197 yards and five touchdowns in the win over the Wolverines in a battle of unbeatens. That was the fourth time he's rushed for over 170 yards and the third time he's found the endzone at least three times in a game this season. His 14 rushing TDs are tops in the Power 5 and his 1,149 rushing yards are second in the nation. Michigan State travels to Purdue this Saturday to face a Boilermakers defense that gave up 291 rushing yards to Wisconsin a few weeks ago. 

Saturday's Liberty-Ole Miss game features two of the top quarterback prospects for the 2022 NFL Draft. Most know of the Rebels' Matt Corral, who is one of the front-runners in the Heisman race, but Liberty's Malik Willis may be the first QB off the board in the draft. Willis is an attractive prospect with great vision and movement in the pocket and his dual-threat ability fits in today's pro game. Sure, he's been piling up stats against Group of 5 competition but the Auburn transfer gets a great opportunity to go against a highly ranked SEC school who has a great quarterback of their own.